(There may be minor differences. I edited the comment before submitting it but didn't save the changes.)Is there something you can do to alert the public and prevent someone else from getting argyria?Rosemary

Thank you. I hope that Ms. Durst very quickly presents solid evidence supporting her claims or admits that she was mistaken and alerts the public to the danger and uselessness of ingesting silver. I also hope that the paper does a well researched article about dietary supplements and the need to independently verify any claims, especially those from salespeople, about safety and efficacy.

Ms. Durst’s columns are also published on http://www.lewrockwell.com/, a site which does not enable readers to post comments and, as far as I can tell, doesn’t provide anyway for them to contact or communicate with the site owner or its writers.

I personally don’t take such a site seriously. To me the failure to include an easy way to offer different opinions or to present evidence of factual errors indicates that the people running the site are promoting their personal beliefs, agendas or goods and services and that they don’t want their readers to hear anything contradictory. That plus the fact that Lew Rockwell bills itself as “anti-state, anti-war, pro-market” leads me to believe, well at least hope, that any rational person who bothers reading it will take what it says with the proverbial grain of salt.

However, I don’t think the same can be said for material published in “newspapers” since journalists have long indoctrinated us with the idea that papers have editors who check sources and facts zealously deleting anything that can’t be independently verified. In fact, I’ve very recently heard publishers claim that that is exactly why traditional publications are needed by society and why they are so much superior to Internet sites where anyone can and does write whatever he wants.

If it were true that reporters and editors do the job we have been taught that they do, I don’t think the newspaper and broadcasting industries would be suffering the serious declines in readership that they are today. But till the word gets out to everyone that they are not, let me repeat, do not believe claims about anything as important as your health, not even those that you read in the paper, hear on the radio or see on TV, unless you independently verify them or, if you lack the time and resources to do that, have them verified by an expert with no financial interest in the products or services being promoted.

While that is especially true for claims made by salespeople, it also applies to those made by the media, which unfortunately often uses promotional material written by salespeople to fill space. And, of course, since newspapers, TV and radio stations are in business to make money, they have to publish material that interests the public and pleases, or at least doesn’t offend, advertisers in order to make a profit so that they can stay in business.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

It was written by Margaret Durst who follows her name with “ND”, initials that mean “Naturopathic Doctor”. Since Texas doesn’t recognize naturopaths or permit them to call themselves doctors, I don’t know if Durst bought her degree from a diploma mill, awarded herself the title or “earned” it at one of the “accredited” 4 year naturopathic colleges. However, what I’d really love to know is whether or not she, who is called a “columnist” by the paper, is paid by them for her articles, pays them to publish her work or writes them for free. Whatever the case may be, I’m certain that Durst uses her column to promote her business, The Green House, “avitamin, herb and health food store in Mason, Texas.”

Since Durst recommended colloidal silver for children in her article, I posted the following comment after it which, as of today, October 12, 2011, has not been posted, never having made it past the moderator.

Please, do not give your children silver in any form! It can make them look like me or Paul Karason, The Blue Man of Oprah fame. We have argyria. Taking silver internally offers no benefits whatsoever and it can harm you!If you want to avoid the flu, get a flu shot and for heavens sake don't throw away hard earned money on products alleged to cure the common cold! There is no cure. It goes away on its own. Remember the old saying, The cure is worse than the disease? That is always possible and that is why you shouldn't take or give your children remedies or drugs for things like colds that are not serious and go away on their own.Rosemary Jacobs